Family Is All That Matters
by MaryJane Weasley
Summary: Fred and Angelina are living a happy life together, everything is going great in their relationship. But large families equal large problems. A story about love, marriage, breakups, and what matters the most: Family.
1. When you thought everything was great

Author's note: I have **not** given up on my first story, I just have a major writer's block and while I tried to think of a continuation to _A Different Kind of Relationship_ this story appeared in my head. Feedback is more than welcome (so is ideas for my other story). Hope you'll like this one. By the way, it's not complaint with DH.

_**Family Is All That Matters**_

Chapter 1

When you thought everything was great

Beep_. "The weather today will be absolutely wonderful for a walk in the park. Only a few clouds are in sight and the temperature will be around..." _**BANG!**

"Do you have to do that every morning?"

Fred grumbled something incoherently in response. Angelina gave him a peck on the cheek before getting out of the bed. She picked up the remains of her alarm clock and went out to the kitchen. There was no point in trying to fix it so she threw it in the garbage can under the sink before making some breakfast.

She started the coffee machine while pouring herself a bowl of cereal. She ate quickly and took one cup of coffee and put a heating charm on the rest so it would stay warm until Fred would get up in an hour or two.

As soon as she was finished, she went back into the bedroom and changed into her working clothes.

"Come back to bed," Fred said sleepily.

"I wish I could, but I have a job to get to, and so do you so I suggest you get up as soon as possible." Fred snorted in response. "I made some coffee for you. See you tonight."

"See you," he mumbled back.

Angelina smiled to herself as she locked the flat behind her and walked down the stairs and out of the building to get to the nearest Apparition point. Fred had never been a morning person and it seemed like it had got worse once they moved in together. Even though it would have been nice to eat breakfast with someone Angelina didn't mind too much. Since he and his brother had their own shop Fred could practically decide his own working hours and he always made sure to be home in time to have dinner ready for them when she came home from St. Mungos.

"Good morning Angelina!"

"Good morning Cheryl!" Angelina greeted back. She and Cheryl had started working at the children ward at St. Mungos at the same time and had become good friends almost immediately. "How are you doing today?"

"Just fine thank you. What about you?"

"I'm doing just fine."

"Do you have any special plans for today?"

"Nothing except buying a new alarm clock."

"Did your boyfriend blow it up again?"

"Yes, he doesn't seem to like being woken by the weather reports."

"Have you ever considered changing radio station?"

"What's the fun in that?" They both laughed. Having a prankster as a boyfriend automatically gave you permission to torture him every once in a while. Or every day. "I'll see you at lunch," Angelina said as she took a journal and went to see the first patient of the day.

Inside the examination room was a five-year old girl together with her mum. The girl was squeezing her mother's hand tightly and it was evident that she had been crying recently.

"Hello there," Angelina greeted with a smile on her face. "What's your name little girl?" Even though she always read the journal very carefully before meeting a patient she had noticed that children felt a lot safer if they where asked for their name and age.

"Abigail," the girl answered shyly.

"Abigail, that is a beautiful name. How old are you Abigail?"

"Five," she answered a bit more confidently this time.

"I heard that you had fallen and hurt your arm." Abigail nodded. "Is it ok if I take a look?" She nodded again.

Angelina carefully lifted the little girl's arm to check if it was broken anywhere. It was.

"You seem to have broken your arm, but don't worry; we'll fix it in no time. I need you to lie down carefully, and then I will just say a spell and it will all be fixed. It might feel a bit sore afterwards but it will soon go away. Ok? Lie down then."

Abigail did as she was told and Angelina uttered the incantation.

"There you go! All fixed!"

"Thank you doctor!" both Abigail and her mum said as Angelina gave Abigail a lollipop and they left the room.

----------

"Hello, I'm home!" Angelina called as she entered the flat. She could hear loud voices from the living room and recognised one of them as the famous talk-show host, whatever her name was. She threw her bag on the floor and hung up her coat on a hook before going into the living room.

"How do you change the channel on this thing?!" Fred exclaimed as soon as he saw her. Angelina had brought her television with her when she moved in. It was charmed so it could show both wizard and Muggle channels. After the war, the wizarding society had decided to adapt itself a bit to the Muggle style. Since her father was a Muggle she was pretty used to technology but despite having a father who loved everything that had to do with Muggles, Fred didn't seem to have the same talent as her.

"It's good to see you too. I had a great day at work, thank you for asking," she said with a smile playing at her lips. He had somehow managed to change both colour and brightness and she didn't know what else.

Fred shot her a dirty look, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, just help me turn this stupid show off. I've been watching it for an hour now, hoping it would end soon, but noooo, they had to have a special episode the day I decided to try to use your stupid telly. Never again I say, never!"

"Give me the remote and I'll fix it. How's dinner going by the way?"

"Shit!" he almost shouted as he threw the remote in her hand and ran out to the kitchen.

Angelina smiled to herself. Living with Fred was never dull. She changed back all the colours on the TV and changed it to the sports channel before making her way into the kitchen.

Fred was standing by the stove stirring in a large pot. He seemed to have calmed down a bit after the telly-incident. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his stomach and gave him a kiss on the cheek before putting her head on his shoulder.

"So you had a good day at work?" he asked as he added some salt in the pot.

"Yes, it was pretty good actually. I just missed you, that's all."

"Well I can't blame you for that, now can I," he said as he turned around and met her lips in a tender kiss. When they finally broke away, Angelina asked,

"Do you need help with anything?"

"You could set the table if you want. Or set some plates in the living room if you want to watch the Quidditch game while eating."

"Sure. Ron is playing tonight isn't he?"

"Yeah, I think so."

After graduating from Hogwarts, Ron had started training towards becoming an Auror while playing Quidditch on the side. At the same time as he had finished his training, a local Quidditch team had asked him to play with them, and less than a year later the Chudley Cannons (his favourite team of all time) had asked him to join. This had been a lifetime opportunity so he just couldn't say no.

"_Tonight will be one of the group games between __Tutshill Tornados and Chudley Cannons. Here come the players..."_

"_...and Weasley saves the quaffle, nice throw by Birch though..."_

"_...and Gudgeon catches the Snitch which means that the Cannons have won their first game in 11 years! Congratulations to the Chudley Cannons!" _

Fred was standing up on the couch looking at the TV disbelievingly.

"Did you see that?! They won! Why didn't he play like that at Hogwarts?"

Angelina could only laugh as Fred practically jumped around the room in joy. He was so happy that his cheering almost kept them from hearing the knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" he shouted. "I need to spread my happiness!"

He opened the door and the sight that met him took the smile right off his face.

"Ginny? What's wrong?"

His little sister was standing in the corridor. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were wet and muddy probably from walking in the rain outside. Her mascara had drawn streaks down her cheeks and the eyes were red and puffy from newly shed tears.

"Can I stay here for a while?" she managed to get out before bursting out in tears again.

"Of course you can, sis. Of course you can," Fred kept making soothing noises as he wrapped his arms around her and led her into the flat. Angelina came into the hall to see what was going on. When she saw Ginny she mouthed,

"What has happened?"

"I don't know," Fred mouthed back with a pained look on his face. He hadn't seen his sister like this since she told her family all about what had happened during her first year at Hogwarts. It hurt him to see her like this, especially since he had no idea what to do about it.


	2. Ginny's story

Author's note: First of all I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed. It means a lot that you have taken your time to tell me what you think of my story; it really encourages me to write more which is partly why I was able to get this chapter up as fast as I did. Please keep reviewing! Second, here is chapter 2!

Chapter 2

Ginny's story

Ginny stayed the night. Fred let her sleep in George's room since he was away on a business trip anyway, and Angelina let her borrow a pyjamas since she hadn't brought anything with her.

She stayed for another night. And then another. Fred stayed home from work most of the time and only went when they really needed him. He tried to get Ginny to talk about what had happened, but without any success. Every time she opened her mouth new tears gathered in her eyes and she was unable to speak.

It went on like this for about a week. Ginny locked herself up in the room and only came out to go to the bathroom every once in a while. She only ate when Fred practically dragged her out of the room and forced her to.

"Why do you let him do this?" Cheryl asked Angelina one day at work.

"Let him do what? Take care of his sister?"

"I'm not saying he should kick her out or anything but it doesn't seem like he's been paying any kind of attention to you during this week and seeing as he's your boyfriend, that is not acceptable. Doesn't she have about 10 other brothers and two parents to take care of her anyway?"

"Actually it's five brothers," Angelina corrected her, "but that doesn't matter right now. She probably didn't go to her parents because she doesn't want them to know what happened. Bill has his wife and a kid to take care of and he would contact their parents in no time. Charlie lives in Romania and Apparition over boarders has been banned as you know so it would take a while to get there. Percy cares more about his job than some problems his sister might have, no matter how big. George is away on a business trip and Ron has Quidditch practise every day of the week so he wouldn't have any time to deal with her. That only leaves Fred and that's where she is right now."

"You've sure spent a long time thinking about this," Cheryl remarked. "Are you sure it doesn't bother you."

"It doesn't bother me that she is there. What bothers me is that she still hasn't told us what's wrong. It is completely tearing Fred apart since he doesn't know what to do. I can't say it doesn't affect me, because it does, but all I can do right now is to be there for both of them."

"I just hope it will sort itself out soon. For all your sakes."

---------------

Today was Angelina's day off. She hadn't set the alarm clock so she could have a sleep-in. When she woke up Fred had already left for work. He had mentioned something about an important delivery the day before and he absolutely had to be there.

Angelina got out of bed and put on a morning gown before heading out to the kitchen. The sight surprised her.

"Good morning," Ginny greeted her. She looked tired, but not from lack of sleep, more from fatigue. She was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal in front of her. It didn't look like she had eaten much but it was a good sign that she was trying anyway.

"Good morning," Angelina replied. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit better." She paused. "I'm sorry if I'm been in the way this week. I really didn't mean to. I just needed someone to go to and Fred was the first I could think of that wouldn't throw me out right away."

"Fred would never throw you out," Angelina said. "And you haven't been in the way either. Of course you should go to your brother if you need someone."

Ginny smiled as thanks, though it was a sad smile. There was a short silence.

"He really wants you to tell him what's wrong," Angelina finally said.

"I know. I want to tell him. I'm just scared of what he'll do. I'm afraid he'll tell everyone else."

"I'm sure he'd understand no matter what it is."

Ginny scoffed, "I'm not so sure about that."

There was a long silence again.

"You can tell me. If you want that is. I can try to predict Fred's reaction and help you tell him if that is necessary."

"Don't you two always tell each other everything?"

"That might be true, but if you promise that you'll tell him eventually, then I'll promise to keep quiet. How does that sound?"

Ginny thought for a while before answering, "Alright then. Harry and I broke up."

"When? How?" Angelina immediately asked. "I mean it was kind of evident that you had a hard time together with him being away so much and all, but we always thought you would work it out."

"So did I. Until a while ago." Ginny paused for a while before asking. "Do you really want to hear how it all happened?"

"Yes, tell me! You sure seem to need someone to talk to about it."

"Do you promise to help me tell Fred then? You see, it's a bit more to the break-up than it seems."

"Yes, I promise. Now tell me."

Angelina grabbed a cup of coffee and took a seat across from the younger girl. Ginny started talking.

"Things haven't been going that well for me and Harry lately. I know everyone thought it has and that we'd get married soon and all but it's not like that. Ever since he proposed I felt like something was wrong, like he felt obligated to do it and I felt obligated to say yes. He did it in front of my entire family so of course I couldn't say no, even though a large part of me wanted to. He went away a lot during our time together, like you said, due to being an Auror and all. Sometimes he'd be gone for weeks. I tried really hard to cope with it though it was difficult. There were times when I just wanted to pack a bag and walk out of there and find someone who would actually care about me. But I didn't, I told myself that he did care and that we would work it out.

"Then one week, my job wanted to send me away on a conference. I accepted the offer and went home to tell him that I would be gone for a week. He seemed almost happy to hear that I would be away. The conference ended a day earlier than what was expected so I went home seeing as I had nothing else to do there.

"When I arrived home in the evening, I heard noises from the bedroom. It sounded like someone was in a real hurry. He came out of the room in only a bathrobe. I asked him what he had been doing and he answered: _"I was just on my way to take a shower. Why don't you make us some dinner and I'll be out in a few minutes."_ I never confronted him about it but I know there had been another woman in there just seconds before he came out.

"He kept being his distant self. Came home late in the evenings when I was almost asleep already. One day when I arrive home I saw a message on the answering machine. I listened to it. It was a message to Harry from Cho Chang, you remember the Ravenclaw girl who was two years above me, one below you.

"On the message she said that she wanted to talk more about what they had discussed the night before. When he came home, I accused him of cheating on me." Tears started welling up in Ginny's eyes but she did her best to keep them from falling. "At first he looked shocked but then he started apologizing over and over again. Then he said something I never would have expected:

---------------

"_I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did! I felt depressed and I needed someone to talk to!"_

"_And you couldn't think of me? Your fiancée? I know things haven't been the best between us but if you can't even talk to me..."_

"_I'm sorry, ok? Something had happened and I didn't know how to tell you so I went to Hermione and then it just happened!"_

_---------------_

"HERMIONE!" Angelina shouted. "I thought you said it was Cho who had called?"

"It was. And it gets worse."

---------------

"_Hermione?"__ Ginny asked in disbelief._

"_Yes," Harry said confused. Then the confusion turned into shock as if he had just made the worst mistake ever. "Wasn't that who you meant?" he asked slowly._

_Ginny pressed the play button on the answering machine and let him listen to the message. Fear spread itself further and further across his face as he realised his huge mistake._

"_What did she mean? What did she want to talk about?" Ginny asked, getting angrier by the second._

"_She.....I...What I..."_

"_ANSWER!" she yelled__._

"_Yesterday she told me she was pregnant. Apparently, I'm the father. It was such a huge shock that I left right after she told me. I didn't know how to tell you, Ginny."_

"_So you went to get comfort from Hermione instead?"_

"_I didn't want you to get mad."_

"_Well, how do you think I feel NOW?!"_

_---------------_

"That's when the throwing started. I think I broke every breakable object in the entire flat."

They both sat quiet for a while, Ginny deep in her own thoughts and Angelina digesting what she had just heard.

"How could he do that to you?" she said finally. "How could _they_ do that to you and _Ron_?"

"I don't know," Ginny answered quietly. "I don't know."


	3. Watch you tongue

Chapter 3

Watch you tongue

Fred and George banged on the door as loudly as they could and didn't wait for anyone to open before kicking it up and going inside. They enlarged the boxes they had kept in their pockets and started packing everything they could recognize as their sister's.

"Fred! George! What are you doing here?" a shocked Harry had come out from the kitchen as soon as he heard someone bursting up the door. He had a small cut on his nose which was most definitely from one of the vases Ginny had thrown at him.

"We are..." Fred said.

"...as you might see..." George continued.

"...removing everything..."

"...that doesn't belong to you."

They kept walking around the flat, taking things of shelves and tables as they passed them.

"I guess Ginny told you what happened then," Harry said in a disappointed voice.

"What did you think she would do? Keep it to herself and just go on as if nothing had happened? You must be delusional." George said.

"Where is she?" Harry asked. "I really need to..."

Fred dropped the box he was holding and walked over to Harry so that he was standing only inches from him. He wasn't as tall as Ron but he was at least half a foot taller than Harry.

"You don't need to do anything. Where Ginny is, is none of your business. Not anymore at least." He went back to packing the box.

"Do everyone a favour and stay away from her. And from Ron too. I don't think he'll be wanting to see neither you nor Hermione after he finds out about this."

Fred and George waved their wands and the rest of Ginny's stuff came flying and landed neatly in the boxes they had brought. They shrunk the boxes, put them back in their pockets and left without another word.

---------------

"Here are all you stuff Gin," George said as he and Fred arrived to their flat.

"Thank you so much for getting them for me!" she answered as she hugged them both. George had arrived just yesterday and Angelina and Ginny had decided that it was best to tell them both at the same time. Their reaction had been somewhat violent with a bit of yelling and screaming, but Angelina and Ginny hadn't expected anything less. "Was he there?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah, he was. He asked where you were but we didn't say anything." George answered.

"Thank you," Ginny answered quietly.

"What did you do to him?" Angelina asked suspiciously from where she was standing leaned against the wall.

"Nothing." Fred answered. He received a raised eyebrow from his girlfriend. She didn't believe for a second that they had gone to their sister's ex-boyfriend's flat without hexing him.

"Really?"

"Really! We wouldn't want to waste any of our wonderful products on a prat like that."

"Besides," George continued, "Ginny had done a perfect job of hurting him herself."

"Was his nose broken?" she asked.

"Oh, yes. And there was a nice red cut left to prove it. I bet it will leave a scar."

"Good."

---------------

Fred was standing in front of the mirror in his and Angelina's bathroom. He splashed some cold water in his face and stared at his reflection for a while. He didn't hear Angelina come in the room.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked softly to not startle him too much.

"What's going to happen now," he didn't continue immediately. "Ron is coming home tomorrow. What should we say to him? How can we possibly tell him that his girlfriend and his best friend cheated on him?" he turned to face Angelina. He looked so helpless. He wanted to protect his siblings, to make sure they were never hurt, but in a situation like this there were only so much he could do.

"I don't think it's our place to tell him. I think it's something he has to hear from Hermione. All we can do for the moment is be here for him when he needs someone to talk to."

"It sucks."

"I know."

They stood there quietly for a while.

"I have to work tomorrow," Angelina finally said. "However, I'm going apartment hunting with Ginny afterwards so I'll see if I can get off a bit earlier."

"She's looking for a flat?" Fred asked surprised.

"Yes. She realised that now that George is back this one isn't big enough for all of us."

"You told her she was welcome to stay for as long as she liked right? I mean, that is not a problem. We have plenty of room here."

"Of course I told her, but you have to admit that she is kind of right. George is sleeping on the couch and there is no empty space for her to put all her stuff that you brought over from Harry's place. It won't work in the long run."

"But..." Fred objected.

"I know all you want to do is to protect her but she needs to move on as soon as possible and she can't do that with her brothers monitoring every step she makes. You know you have to let her go sooner or later."

"Yeah, I just prefer it to be later."

Angelina wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Let's go to bed now."

"Fine, but if me and George don't like the apartment you pick, then Ginny is not going anywhere."

---------------

"Hey!" Angelina greeted as she and Ginny walked into the flat. They had been out all afternoon but had been unsuccessful in finding something appropriate for Ginny.

"Hello," Fred and George answered distractedly.

"What's going on?" Angelina asked when she arrived in the living room and saw both Fred and George sitting on the couch, staring at the phone.

"You still haven't heard anything from Ron?" Ginny asked.

"Nope," George responded. "It's weird; he should have contacted us by now."

"Maybe he doesn't know yet. Maybe Hermione is too much of a coward to tell him," Ginny suggested. "I don't think Harry would have told me if I hadn't confronted him about it like I did."

"Or maybe Harry actually listened to you and made sure to keep Hermione away from Ron in case one of you had told him," Angelina added.

"No, I think she would tell him herself," Fred replied.

Just as the words had left his mouth there was a knock on the door. Fred and George flew out of couch in order to reach the door as fast as possible. Their curiosity turned to anger when they saw who it was.

"What are you doing here? Didn't we tell you to stay away?"

"I need to talk to Ginny," Harry's hair was, if possible, even messier than usual. His glasses were crooked and his clothes were wrinkled. He still had the cut on his broken nose and his breath stunk of Firewiskey. "Ginny! I know you're here! Please talk to me!" he begged.

"You're drunk," was Ginny's first comment when came out in the hall. "Go home Harry, we have nothing to discuss."

"Please Ginny! Just let me explain!" he begged desperately. He tried to make his way towards Ginny who backed up against the wall. George stopped him with one hand seeing as he was too drunk to fight back anyway.

"Harry, we're through! You made that perfectly clear yourself the second you slept with Cho. Go away! Take care of her and the baby. It will need its father no matter how big of a jerk he might be."

"Please Ginny!" He looked at her with pleading eyes. He could see tears forming in her eyes. It was difficult for her to turn him down and he knew it and was prepared to use it to his advantage. He didn't get enough time though.

"You heard her," George said and lifted Harry out of the doorframe. "You have nothing more to say so you may as well leave."

"And don't even think about coming back!" Fred added as the door was shut in Harry's face.

Ginny couldn't help it. The tears started falling uncontrollably down her face. She covered it with her hand and ran into George's room, closing the door behind her.

"I guess that settles it," Fred said, looking at Angelina.

"Settles what?" Angelina asked.

"Ginny isn't leaving this place until we have made sure that he will not come back and harass her again."

"You can't keep her locked in here!" she exclaimed. She knew it had been a bad idea to tell Fred that Ginny wanted to move, but at the same time it was something she couldn't keep from him since he would find out sooner or later anyway and in this case, sooner was better. It would give him time to get used to it instead of being shocked when she was suddenly gone one day.

"Sure we can," George said. "She can't take care of herself, you saw how she reacted."

"You just need to let her try. Of course you can help her get through this, but not by locking her up! Why are you confronting me about this anyway? It was her idea to get her own flat."

"And you supported it! You didn't even talk to us!" Fred said.

"Why would I? I can make my own decision!" both she and Fred had started yelling at this point. It was too late to be having an argument about something like this but neither of them was willing to give up. George sensed that this could turn ugly any second and quietly made his way out of the room.

"Because she's **my** sister! I'm sure you can make your own decisions and I'm not stopping you unless it concerns me!"

"Everything I do and decide concerns you since we're together! Are you saying that I have to consult you about every little decision I want to make?"

"Yes! I mean...No! I mean...You know what I mean." Angelina glared at him.

"Feel free to join George on the couch tonight," she turned on her heel and slammed the bedroom door shut before he could utter another word.


	4. Special day

Chapter 4

Special day

Angelina woke up alone the next morning. It seemed like Fred had taken her not so subtle hint and slept on the sofa with George. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and glanced over at her alarm clock. 8:30. She didn't begin work for another hour and a half but she hadn't slept well and trying to go back to sleep was useless. Angelina did everything she could to tell herself that her lack of sleep had nothing to do with Fred's arm not being flung over her stomach like it usually was. Nothing at all.

Angelina got up and got dressed. She went out of the room to get some breakfast in the kitchen. On her way she peeked into the living room and sure enough, George was laying in the middle of the bed-settee while Fred had been pushed out to the side and looked like he would fall off the edge any moment. As if that wasn't enough, George had hogged both the covers too which left Fred looking very cold. Angelina had to resist the very strong urge to wrap a blanket around him.

When she walked into the kitchen she was a bit surprised at seeing Ginny already there.

"Good morning!" Ginny greeted with a small smile.

Angelina grumbled something in response. She wasn't really in the mood to make small talk with her boyfriend's sister. Ginny sensed Angelina's bad mood and decided to get straight to the point without unnecessary chit chat.

"I'm really sorry about last night."

"Why, it's not you fault that your ex decides to show up drunk on your brothers' doorstep," Angelina replied, still in a sour mood.

"I meant your fight with Fred. I didn't mean to cause any trouble between you two, I really didn't."

"It's not your fault," Angelina said but avoided looking at Ginny. A part of her, a rather large part of her, agreed that it was Ginny's fault, but she couldn't say that straight out, could she.

"Either way I'm sorry," Ginny still blamed herself despite Angelina's half-hearted protest. "I promise I'll make it up to you somehow. Just ask me to do anything and I'll do it!" Ginny said.

"Thank you for your offer but it's fine. Really. I'm sorry if I seem angry at you, I'm not. Fred and I just need to cool off a bit and then we'll be alright. We do this all the time, it's no big deal. The only difference is that now he has to share the couch with George. I just wish we would have had the fight on another day that's all," Angelina said, this time facing Ginny. This was all true. She and Fred needed to yell at each other and cool off separately every once in a while. Today was however not the best day.

"Why, what's happening today?" Ginny asked. Panic was starting to grow inside her. If she had messed up a special day for her brother and his girlfriend then she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. Especially not when Angelina had been so helpful these last couple of days, she had even almost convinced Fred to let Ginny move out and then Ginny had ruined it.

"Never mind. I have to get going. I start work soon and I don't want to be late," Angelina didn't want to make Ginny feel worse than she already seemed to do.

The minute Angelina had walked out of the door, Ginny flew up and ran into living room to wake Fred up. She had to fix this and she had to do it soon.

------------

"Good morning Angelina," Cheryl greeted her when she arrived at St. Mungos.

"Not really," Angelina replied.

"Why? What happened? Was it Fred's sister? I _knew_ she would be trouble, I knew it from the start. I told you that you shouldn't have let her stay, but that boyfriend of yours just _had_ to let her because she had _nowhere _else to go even though she has a _dozen_ other family members to bother." Cheryl seemed to have been waiting a long time to get this off her chest. Angelina knew she hadn't liked Ginny staying in Angelina's flat but she had just waved off Cheryl's protests.

"Calm down Cheryl! She hasn't really done anything..."

"Hasn't _really_? That means that she has done something and you better tell me. You know I won't leave until you do."

Cheryl planted herself in front of Angelina with her arms crossed over her chest and a determined look on her face. If she hadn't been a foot shorter than Angelina, the gesture would have been pretty intimidating. Now it was on the border to comical.

"Me and Fred had a fight yesterday," Angelina explained while trying to keep a straight face and apparently succeeding since Cheryl didn't comment.

"About his sister?"

"Yes. He wants to keep her locked inside the flat since he doesn't think she can take care of herself. I tried to talk some sense into him and it led to some yelling."

"That's awful! You should really tell him off. Yelling at your girlfriend is unforgivable for a boyfriend."

Cheryl had many rules for how women should be treated by men. Yelling, lying, ignoring and even arguing was some of the things that were considered unforgivable.

"That is not what's bothering me. What's bothering me is that this is a very special day for us and I hate that we're not even talking to each other when we should be out celebrating."

"It's the 8th of July. What's so special about that?"

"It's a tradition we have. A kind of anniversary."

"What is it that you celebrate?"

------------

"We celebrate the day I took Angelina on our very first date, if you don't count the Yule Ball and Hogsmeade weekends," Fred explained to Ginny who had, after her not so gentle awakening (being woken up by your sister practically slapping your face was not something Fred preferred), curiously asked him what was so special about today. "The date is exactly between our birthdays and almost half a year after Christmas so we have sort of developed it into an excuse to give each other presents. And go out to dinner of course. After we moved in together we kind of stopped going out to fancy places, but this day made it into a tradition to go out at least once a year. On our very first date, I bought her a bracelet which you can attach tiny little charms on. Every year I get her a new charm on this day and every charm represent something special that has happened since last year.

"That is so sweet!" Ginny said.

"Yeah, I had all evening planned for us but now I'm not sure she even wants to talk to me," Fred said with sadness in his voice. Ginny could really tell what a special day this was for them.

"Of course she will! She's probably just waiting for a sign that you haven't forgotten!"

"You think?" Fred asked, suddenly eager to get out of bed.

"Yes, now go!"

------------

"He has probably forgotten anyway. It was just a stupid tradition that we knew wouldn't last, so why fool ourselves," Angelina tried to shrug it off but her voice gave away how much she had wanted it to last. "I have to get back to work now."

Angelina took the folder and walked away to see her first patient.

------------

It was a short day for Angelina today. She only worked until lunch and then she was free. Since she hadn't heard anything from Fred, not that she had expected it, she had promised to have lunch with Cheryl. When she walked back to the waiting room to put back her patient's journal, she caught sight of Cheryl smiling broadly at her.

"What?" Angelina asked suspiciously.

"You have to come to the staff room, there is a delivery there for you," she said, still smiling.

When they arrived at the staff room there was a bunch of curious nurses looking at what had arrived. Angelina made her way through the crowd of gossiping girls to get to the table in the middle of the room. There was a bouquet of deep red roses wrapped in brown paper.

"Angelina, there you are!" one of the nurses exclaimed. "These arrived for you just a few minutes ago."

"Why are there thirteen?" someone else asked. "Shouldn't there only be twelve? Thirteen is an unlucky number."

Angelina saw the card attached and opened it, making sure to keep it out of view from the people trying to peek over her shoulders.

_Thirteen roses for the love of my life. _

_One for every year I have been lucky enough to know you. _

_Be ready for a fancy dinner at six o'clock tonight and don't forget your charms._

_Another one will be added as always._

_Love Fred_

Angelina smiled as she read the note. He hadn't forgotten after all. He wasn't the most poetic person you could imagine but he sure did know how to be sweet. Angelina picked up the flowers and walked out of the room, ignoring all the questions being fired at her.

------------

When she arrived home, the flat was empty. She had had a short lunch with Cheryl and then headed straight home. It was only two o'clock; she didn't need to be ready for another four hours. She decided to take a long bath; it had been a while since she had allowed herself such a luxury.

After an hour long bath, she started drying and fixing her hair. After she had applied a touch of make-up she changed into a dress she had bought a couple of weeks ago. She had picked it out especially for tonight. Last but not least, she put on the charm bracelet Fred had given her so many years ago. When she was ready she glanced at the clock on the wall in the living room. Three minutes to six.

She heard the door open. Perfect timing.


	5. Every charm has a meaning

Chapter 5

Every charm has a meaning

Angelina looked amazing. She always looked great but it was something special when she dressed up like this. She was wearing a beautiful black dress that he was sure he had never seen before. She usually bought a new dress every year for this day, that's how special it was. They took turns deciding which restaurant to go to and this year it had been his turn. He had picked a fancy little Italian restaurant in Muggle London. It was George who had recommended it after being on a date there himself. His date hadn't turned out very well but the food had been delicious.

In the pocket on the inside of his jacket was the charm that he was going to add to Angelina's bracelet tonight. Giving it to her was just as exiting as finding out what she had bought for him. This was a day more special than both birthday and Christmas put together so it was always something very special he got. A couple of years ago, he had been horrible at being on time. Angelina got more and more tired of it and had finally found a watch for him that he had received on this day. Since then his punctuality had improved drastically.

------------

The restaurant was wonderful. She had never heard of it before and wondered why since it was extremely charming. Then again, so was almost all the restaurants she and Fred had been to on this day.

They were chatting away while waiting for the main course to arrive. Angelina was unconsciously playing with the charms on her bracelet. She had moved them around a bit while getting ready so that a new one would fit in nicely with equal space between each charm. They were all set in chronological order for each year they represented. Fred had given it to her on the summer between their sixth and seventh year. He had already put six charms on it then and afterwards added one every year.

The charms were all in silver. The first one looked like a train. It represented the Hogwarts Express. That was where they had met for the very first time. It hadn't said click right away but it had only taken a couple of weeks for a strong friendship to be formed.

The second one was a miniature Quaffle. Their second year was the year when they had both been picked out for the Gryffindor team. They had been very lucky that so many players from last year had been seventh-years.

The third one was a rose. It had been the year Fred had realised that he liked Angelina more than as a friend. He hadn't said anything then, but he had given her a rose on Valentine's Day. Angelina hadn't thought of it too much then, she had only seen it as a sign of friendship. It took a while for her to figure out the true meaning but when she had, she had started seeing him differently too. They hadn't talked about it though and continued being 'just friends' until the Yule Ball.

The forth one was a teardrop. It had been the year Ginny had been taken down to the Chamber of Secrets. Fred had been terrified that something horrible had happened to his sister. Angelina had found crying in a corner of an empty classroom. Instead of using it against him like she would have if it had been any other guy or situation she had comforted him and lend him a shoulder to cry on. Literally. It was a secret kept between them. Angelina was pretty sure not even George knew about it.

The fifth one was a quill. It represented the O.W.L. exams. If Fred had decided he would have skipped them all together, but Angelina had pushed him to not only do them but to study for them too. Thanks to her, he had received three O.W.L.s and had even earned an Outstanding in Transfiguration.

The sixth one was a ball gown. If one looked closely one could see that it was very much alike the one she had worn to the Yule Ball. That year had been the real turning point in their relationship. After Fred had taken her to the ball, they had gone out every Hogsmeade weekend for the rest of the year and then finally on the 'real' date the 8th of July.

The seventh one was a broom. It was the same model Fred had left Hogwarts on. Him leaving Hogwarts had caused some trouble in their relationship but nothing worse than what had been fixed in just a few days.

The eighth one was a ring. It looked exactly like the one Fred had proposed to her with. It was a long story about how it all turned out but the short version was that he proposed, she said no and then they went on as if nothing had happened.

The ninth charm on her bracelet was a heart. His explanation to it had been that he would always love her no matter what. It was also a sign that he had completely forgiven her for saying no to his proposal.

The tenth one was a tiny thermometer. It was the year she had finished her training at St. Mungos and officially become a mediwitch. He had tried to find a charm that looked like the St. Mungos logo but it had been absolutely impossible.

The eleventh one was a palm tree. In June that year, they had gone on their first three week vacation together, without George or any of their friends tagging along. It had been a wonderful vacation in the south of Spain and they always dreamt back to the sunny beaches there. They had often talked about going there or someplace else again but none of their plans had been put into action yet.

The twelfth one was a little house. It was the year she had finally agreed to move in with Fred after many years of convincing how good it would be. Before then, she had lived with Alicia and had felt as though she deserted her friend if she moved in with Fred. Alicia finally found someone whom she moved in with after just two months of dating. They sold the flat and Angelina moved into Fred and George's flat.

While they were finishing their desert, she could see Fred fidgeting in the inner pocket of his jacket and decided it was time for her to get out his presents too. It had been extremely difficult to find something for him this year but with a little help from some friends she had finally managed.

"I have to admit I didn't buy this until just a few days ago. It was really hard to find something this year," he said.

"It was really hard finding something for you too, but I did in the end."

"Ok, then you start!" excitement twinkling in his eyes.

"All right. Here you go."

Angelina handed him two packages. One large and one smaller. Naturally he went for the big one first. It was a rectangular box and didn't make any sound when he shook it. In it was an orange shirt with the Chudley Cannon's logo in the front. When he turned it around and looked at the back, he could see the signatures of all the players on the team, including his brother's.

"How did you get this? I've been asking Ron for ages and he said it was rude of a player to ask for autographs from his team-mates."

"Connections my dear," she replied with a cheeky smile.

"Seriously, how did you do it?" he still couldn't believe she had managed to get one when he had spent so much time trying to. Well, at least a couple of hours bothering Ron right when he had got his contract.

"I asked him during Christmas if he could get me one for you. I offered him a favour in return."

Fred's eyes widened as he looked at his girlfriend.

"Nothing dirty, you pervert!" she slapped his arm with her napkin, "I offered to help him find a gift for Hermione. He felt like they were slowly falling apart since he lived so far away, so he wanted to give her something to show that he still cared about her."

"It didn't exactly turn out the way he wanted it then," Fred said, his expression turning sad. Angelina didn't really want to discuss his siblings on this day but decided to ask anyway,

"Speaking of which, have you heard anything from him yet?"

"No, George and Ginny were going over today. They are probably there right now. Now, let's not talk about my siblings failed relationships and instead concentrate on our own fully functioning one. Once we're done here, there is an empty flat just waiting for us to occupy. I made sure George and Ginny would stay out of it until tomorrow morning at least," he winked. "Where did my other gift go?" It was clear that he did not want to discuss or think about his siblings on a special day like this either.

He found his gift underneath the box the shirt had been in. He tore open the paper and revealed a carton box. He opened it slowly to create some dramatic tension. It seemed to be empty inside at first but then he saw thin slips of paper and took them out.

"You got me tickets to the World Cup final in France?!" he nearly crushed her with the force of his hug. He hadn't seen the World Cup final since the summer before his sixth year at Hogwarts. "How did you get these? Was it through Ron again? I really should thank him more often! Thank you so much!" he planted some sloppy kisses on her face. "I love you so much!" he whispered in her ear. She smile, content that he was happy with his gift.

"Just remember, they're not only for you. I expect to go with you and I think there was one for George and whatever tramp he decides to bring along. Also, it wasn't Ron that got them, it was Lee. He got the honour of being the commentator on the final and managed to get more tickets that he could use so he gave me some to share with you."

"He's commentating the final? Why didn't he tell me this?"

"Because then you would have bugged him about getting tickets for you and spoiled my surprise. Oh, I forgot to tell you, a week of relaxing on the French Riviera with your girlfriend is also included."

"Have I told you how much I love you lately?" he asked as he kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"It can't be said often enough," she answered in between kisses. "Where's my gift by the way?"

"Right here," he picked up the box he had put on the table placed it in her hand. She opened it while still resting her forehead against his. Inside was a tiny charm in the shape of a hand. "This one represents how you always give me a helping hand no matter what. It especially represents how understanding and helpful you have been while Ginny has stayed with us. It really means a lot to me." He kissed her forehead before breaking contact and straightening up. "What do you say about paying and getting out of here?"

"That empty flat you mentioned before sounds very tempting," she smiled.

"Let's go then!"


	6. Ron's reaction

Author's note: Sorry about the wait, I haven't had much time to write for a while. Also, sorry about the lack of F/A action, I hope you got enough in the last chapter to get you through this one.

There is a couple of swear words in this chapter, nothing major but I thought I'd warn y'all so no one gets offended. I hope you like it. Next chapter will hopefully be up soon. Keep reviewing, it keeps the story going!

Chapter 6

Ron's reaction

He should have known. He should have known something like this would happen. Deep down he knew it would. His best friend and his girlfriend. Together. Suddenly he felt nauseous. Where's a bucket when you need one.

"**Ron?"**

He felt a hand stroke his arm in comfort. A female hand. Hermione? No, Ginny. Sweet little Ginny. What had she done to deserve this? What had she done to deserve a lying cheating bastard of a boyfriend? What had she ever done to Harry? Absolutely nothing. She had been the perfect girlfriend. Always been there when Harry needed someone. Always available. Always helpful and ready to sacrifice both needs and wants in order to keep the relationship working.

That was more than could be said about himself. Hermione had called him countless of times asking when he would get a day off and come to visit. He'd always said, "Soon, babe. Gotta go!" and gone out to do something with the team. He shouldn't have pushed her away like that. This was all his fault.

"**Ron?"**

Or was it really? He tried to remember when it had all started. Hogwarts? No, it had been after that. Auror training? No, their relationship had been great at that time. Chudley Cannons? Yes, that was it. He and Harry had just finished their Auror training. Hermione had been so proud of both of them and had even organized a party together with his mum. That was probably the only time his mum and her had really gotten along.

A week before he was to start his new job as an actual Auror, his coach on the Quidditch team he played on had received a letter from the Chudley Cannons. They had requested Ron to try out for their team. Ron had been thrilled, Hermione not so much. He remember coming home to their newly bought flat, exhilarated with the news. He had hoped for a similar reaction from his girlfriend but to his surprise, Hermione had seemed almost disappointed.

"**Ron?"**

They had fought right before he left a few days later.

"_Do you have to leave now?" _

"_Don't you realise this is a once in a lifetime __opportunity? If I turn it down I won't get another chance." _

"_We've barely settled in here and you want to go through all the trouble of moving again? What about me? Am I supposed to leave my job and find a new one just because you've decided to change career path?" _

"_This had been my biggest dream since I was five! Are you seriously asking me to give it up?" _

It had gone on like that for hours. He had left early the next morning without as much as saying good-bye. He had made the team immediately and they set him up with a flat close to the pitch and everything. Many times he picked up the phone to call Hermione but changed his mind before finishing dialling her number.

"**Ron?"**

Two weeks later, she had shown up at his doorstep. She had congratulated him and apologised. They were back together in no time. The relationship had spiralled downhill from there. He had Quidditch practice almost every day of the week and the rare times he had the time to go to London, he didn't have the strength or energy. Hermione and Harry came to visit a few times but they, just as him, were busy with their jobs.

He should have visited more, shouldn't have been so distant when talking on the phone. Now he had lost her, to his best friend.

"**Ron?"**

-------------

"Ron?" George tried over and over again. It was impossible to get any contact. Ron just kept staring out into the space front of him, eyes glazed over. George and Ginny had arrived almost an hour ago and found him like this. Hermione had been there then but they had thrown her out immediately. After that, they had tried to talk to him themselves, trying to make him tell them exactly what she had said, but without any luck. "Ron?" George tried one last time and was almost startled by surprise when Ron actually reacted. His eyes made contact with George's. Sadness and betrayal was evident.

"I'm going to bed," he whispered and got up. George made a move to follow but Ginny stopped him. When he gave her an asking glance she just shook her head. They heard the door to Ron's bedroom close softly. Only then did Ginny speak.

"I think you should leave him there until he's ready to talk about it. I wouldn't talk to anyone for days as you know," she half whispered.

"I guess you're right. I just don't want to leave him here alone, I don't know what he'd do," George said as he looked around the room. It was a complete mess, created only moments before their arrival.

"We can stay. Fred probably doesn't want us to come home right now anyway. He has pretty comfortable couches and besides, it's late, we should get some sleep."

"You go ahead. I'll stay awake in case he comes up." George felt really uncomfortable with his brother in this state. Ron was known for his horrible temper and George wanted to calm him down as soon as possible after Ron awoke in order to have a rational conversation of what had happened.

"Good night then," Ginny said and walked into the adjacent living room.

-------------

"Ginny! Ginny, wake up!" Ginny heard a voice whisper close to her ear while gently shaking her awake. She grabbed the nearest pillow and pulled over her head. "Get up, it's almost eleven." Ginny slowly opened her eyes. It was George waking her. "I have to go check in on the shop. Ron isn't up yet. I'll be back in a couple of hours, are you staying here?"

"Yeah, sure," she mumbled. Shortly after, the front door closed. There was no point in going back to sleep so she went up and into the kitchen to get some coffee. There were none. How could there not be any coffee?

She searched every single cupboard and drawer but the coffee was nowhere to be found. Why didn't Hermione drink coffee? How could anyone possibly survive without it?

"Hey." Ginny swung around. Her brother was standing in the doorframe between the living room and kitchen. He had puffy eyes, messy hair and was still wearing the clothes he had had on yesterday. He looked as if he hadn't got any sleep at all.

"Hey, how are you?" Ginny asked softly.

Ron let out an empty laugh as if he had no other way to respond. "I don't know if I'm to be honest." He stood there quietly shaking his head.

"You're out of coffee," Ginny said, immediately slapping herself mentally for such a stupid comment.

"She doesn't drink it so she doesn't bother buying any. I usually bring some with me but I forgot it this time," Ron answered anyway, looking down on the floor. By 'she', he of course meant Hermione but he didn't seem to want to say her name. Most likely because it was too painful. "How are you?" he asked suddenly.

Ginny shrugged in response. "Relieved I guess." Ron looked up at her in surprise.

"What do you mean by relieved? You can't possible be saying that you are happy that your boyfriend cheated on you?"

"I am in a way." Ron stared at her in disbelief.

"Sit down and I'll explain," Ginny ordered while taking a seat herself. Ron complied. "Harry's and my relationship hasn't exactly been the best lately. We barely see each other due to work and stuff, and when we do see each other all we do is fight. That's probably why this all happened. I have for a long time tried to think of ways to break it off with him in the best possible way. Now he has done the work for me."

Ron still didn't seem convinced.

"But he cheated on you, Gin! Cheated, as in slept with another woman. Two even!"

"I know he did. I just think it could have been worse."

"What do you mean worse?" Ron was not following his sister's trail of thought.

"We could have been stuck in a dysfunctional marriage that none of us had the guts to change. Or I could have been the one getting knocked up like Cho. Harry would have stayed with me only out of pity and responsibility, just like he'll do with her now."

Ron was quiet for a while.

"I guess you have a point. I still don't like though," he added with a warning finger.

"No one is asking you to," she smiled sadly at him. "Even though Harry has a reason for his actions they are no excuse for what he did to you. Sleeping with you supposedly best friend's girlfriend is never right."

They both sat quiet for a while. Ron was the one to break the silence.

"She told me yesterday. A while before you and George arrived. She apologized, and then acted as if everything was alright. It's not. It will probably never be the same again."

-------------

"Good morning!" Fred called when he spotted George walking outside the kitchen. George almost jumped in surprise.

"Don't scare me like that!" he hissed with his hand over his heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Don't sneak around like that and you won't have a reason to be scared by someone," Fred retorted. "Coffee?" he asked while holding up his own cup.

"Yes please." George slumped down in one of the kitchen chairs while Fred got up to pour some coffee. "I was only sneaking 'cause I thought you and Angelina would be asleep. What are you doing up before noon anyway?"

"Couldn't sleep," Fred answered shortly and handed the cup to George who accepted it gratefully. "How did it go with Ron last night," he asked worried.

"As good as it could have I think. Hermione was there when we arrived. She had told him, I don't know exactly what but I think she told the truth. Ron didn't seem to have taken it very well. The house was a mess, things clearly having been thrown around. When we got there Ron was just sitting at the dining table, staring out into thin air. It took a while to just get any contact and then he went to bed. Ginny's there right now, I just had to go and check in on the shop."

"At least he's got some anger out now. It won't take away the pain though."

"No, not for a while. The worst part wasn't Ron's reaction though. It was Hermione's."

"What do you mean?"

"When we arrived, she was cleaning. As if everything was well and the house was just a bit of a mess. She barely seemed to notice how distressed Ron was."

"Curva," Fred mumbled. George let out a laugh.

"Very fitting word," he praised.

"It's the only Romanian word he knows," Angelina scoffed as she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, love," Fred greeted.

"Good morning," she answered and sat down in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and pecking him on the lips. "Who's a whore, by the way?"

"Hermione," George answered. Fred was planting kisses on Angelina's cheek.

"Has she told Ron yet?" she asked while Fred was nuzzling her hair.

George nodded. "Last night. I should probably get back soon to see how he's doing. Hope you had a great date last night. See ya!" He finished his coffee in one swallow. Sitting and watch his brother being lovey-dovey with his girlfriend was not on Georges agenda today.


	7. Family dinner

Family dinner

There was one day every month when Angelina truly envied Charlie and Ron. The last Sunday of the month. The day when the entire Weasley family and their respective partners gathered at the Burrow to have lunch together. It was a tradition that had started once all the Weasley children had graduated from school. Molly had been devastated that they were now officially out of the house and in an attempt to cheer up their mother, Fred and his siblings had all promised to visit regularly. Shortly afterwards, the concept Family dinner started. The rules where simple: if you don't have a really good reason to not come; be there or suffer the wrath of Molly Weasley.

Both Ron and Charlie had permanent excuses due to both living so far away. There were many times Angelina had considered making Fred move with her to the other side of the world (or at least the other side of England) just to get out of coming to Family dinner.

It wasn't that she didn't like the Burrow; she had absolutely nothing against it. She loved being there with just Fred when he showed her around and told her stories of when he was younger. She had nothing against Arthur either. He was one of the nicest men she had ever met and did not mind at all when he questioned her about Muggle things. Fred's brothers were also wonderful to be around. They all made sure there was never a dull moment in the house.

That only left Molly, and her daughters-in-law. The annoying daughters-in-law. It was beyond Angelina's belief how so great people like the Weasley brothers, could chose such stuck-up, snobby women to marry. She did not understand how anyone could stand being around them for a longer period of time.

Molly herself was very nice. Or at least, had used to be. In the beginning of Fred and Angelina's relationship, she had been very polite and had even seemed to like Angelina. Then the proposal incident came. Molly had, if possible, been even more devastated than Fred about Angelina saying no. When Angelina had come looking for Fred at the Burrow, Molly had been her absolutely worst self and given Angelina a lecture almost worse than the one Fred and George had gotten when quitting Hogwarts.

Angelina had walked away from there without a word to Molly. When she found Fred a while later he had forgiven her. Molly had not been so considerate. Despite Fred's attempts to explain to Molly that Angelina had very special reasons for saying no, Molly had never seemed to forgive Angelina.

Angelina wouldn't have minded so much if it hadn't been for the way Family dinners worked. Once you arrived at the door, you went in, dropped off whatever food you had brought for the buffet, and then, if you were a woman, you went into the kitchen helping preparing the rest of the buffet, and if you were a man you went into the living room to socialise with the other men in the family. Only the fact that Angelina had to spend more time in the kitchen than she preferred just to contribute something to the lunch every month was enough for her to not look forward to attending. The fact that she then had to spend even more time in a kitchen, not only preparing more food, but then wash all the dishes by hand afterwards (since Molly insisted on using the fancy china which could not be washed by wand) was enough for her to actually dread it.

Today was that day.

----------

It had gone two weeks since Ron had found out about Hermione. He had invited Ginny to come live in his flat since Hermione would not be there anymore and because he was rarely there anyway. Also, Fred and George's flat was way too small to have a long-term guest. Ron had gone back to Quidditch practice a few days later, and Fred and George had helped Ginny settle in. None of them had seen neither Harry nor Hermione since then.

Today was Family dinner. Usually Ginny loved it. It was the only time of month when there was a guarantee that she would see most of her brothers and her nephews and nieces. Her parents were also nice to meet every once in a while. But today, she felt sort of weary if she should go or not. Up until now, Harry and Hermione had attended every single Family dinner since the day it had started. Even Hermione, despite Ron almost never attending.

How would it be today? Would they show up? Probably not. But if they did, Ginny had to be prepared. What would she do? Also, how would her parents react? Both Molly and Arthur adored Harry, how could they possibly handle his and Ginny's break-up?

These were just a few of the question that had been running through Ginny's head the last couple of weeks. She had thought through it over and over again and had in the end only found one possibly solution:

Pretend it never had happened.

-----------

"Hey Ginny! We're almost ready to go," George said as he opened the door. He was only wearing one sock and went looking for the other one as soon as Ginny stepped inside.

Ginny walked into the kitchen and sat down by the table. This was not going to be easy. She was sure they would object the second she opened her mouth. But she had to do this. If not for herself then for her parents.

"Yes, I found it," George announced as and sat down opposite Ginny to put on his previously lost sock. "You ready, Fred?!"

"Just a second!" The distant voice of Fred could be heard. He was probably in his bedroom. Angelina walked into the kitchen and took a seat next to George. She looked extremely bored as if she had been ready for quite a while (which she probably had). Angelina was not the kind of girl who spent hours in front of the mirror every time she was leaving the house. That was probably a good quality considering she was living with Fred and George who were both extremely obsessed with their hair. It had to have the exact kind of windblown messiness without looking as if they had overdone it or just woken up.

"This will probably take about thirty more minutes," Angelina said while looking at her watch. "Do you want some coffee while we wait?"

"No, thanks. I'm good." Ginny sat impatiently fiddling with her fingers. Couldn't her brother hurry so she could get this over with?

Angelina got up and made some coffee for herself. She was in no hurry at all. Unfortunately for her, Ginny seemed to be.

"Ok, I'm ready to go!" Fred announced as he joined everyone in the kitchen fifteen minutes later. George and Angelina got up to leave but Ginny stayed seated.

"Aren't you coming Ginny?" George asked.

"Actually, there's something I would like to talk to you about before we go."

"Ok, then. What is it?" Fred and George sat back down with concerned looks on their faces.

"I'll wait outside," Angelina said and made a move to leave but was stopped by Ginny.

"No, stay. This sort of concerns you too."

Angelina raised a questioning eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"I wanted to talk to you about Harry..." Ginny started but was interrupted by Fred.

"Don't worry about it Ginny. We'll make sure he doesn't show up today or any other Family dinner."

"Yes, and we'll tell the rest to keep him away as well," George added.

"Don't!" Ginny cried out, almost in panic. Fred and George were taken aback. "Don't tell them I mean."

There was a long pause before George spoke up.

"And, why shouldn't we tell them?" he asked slowly.

"Harry has been a part of this family for a very long time," Ginny explained. "For all that time we've been the only family he has had. I don't want him to loose his family just because he and I couldn't get along."

"Are you listening to yourself?!" Fred asked surprised. "He cheated on you Ginny! As in slept with another woman, two even. Now one of them is pregnant, don't you think that should be family enough for him after what he did, not only to you, but to Ron also?" Angelina could sense Fred being close to a real rage. He was almost shaking of anger so she put a calming hand on his shoulder. Ginny was too nice for her own good.

"It's not only that," Ginny defended. "Also, Mum adores him, and so does Dad. It would crush them if they found out about the circumstances concerning our break-up."

"So, what you're telling us is that we are not allowed to tell Mum and Dad that you and Harry broke up," George said.

"Exactly, and not Bill, Charlie or Percy either since they wouldn't be able to keep their mouths shut."

"How exactly are you planning to make this work? Don't you think they'll notice if Harry just stops coming to Family dinners completely without even an explanation?"

"I've come up with a brilliant plan," Ginny said, smiling now. She was happy that her brothers were at least trying to see her reasoning in all this. "For a few weeks, I'll keep telling Mum and Dad that Harry has a lot of work to do. Then after a while, I'll tell them that things haven't been going very well between us lately and that we've fallen apart to the extent that we decided it was best to officially break up. Which is basically what has happened anyway. That way I can spare them the details. As long as Harry stays away from the Burrow and from Dad's office at the Ministry then it will work out just fine. I've even decided to tell Harry personally how it's going to work so he knows he has to stay away. Brilliant, don't you think?"


	8. An unwelcome visitor

An unwelcome visitor

Ginny's plan didn't work out the way she had anticipated. As a matter of fact, it went wrong from the second they walked through the door to the Burrow.

"Harry?" Ginny burst out.

Fred looked up. Surely enough, Harry was sitting there, in their living room, having what seemed like a very pleasant conversation with Bill.

"Don't look so surprised Ginny." It was Bill who spoke. "Harry always comes to Family dinners," he explained as if Ginny was suffering from a temporary amnesia.

"Hey sweetheart," Harry greeted as he got up and kissed Ginny tenderly on the cheek. He then wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to sit down with him on the couch he had previously occupied. Ginny was too stunned to react.

Fred, who was standing right behind them, clenched his hand into a fist.

Angelina could immediately sense how Fred tensed at the sight of Harry. She grabbed his arm reassuringly in hopes that he could keep his temper down and not do anything he would surely regret.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. The last one to notice was Bill.

"Why's everyone so quiet?" he asked confused after a long while.

Before anyone could answer, Mrs. Weasley entered the living room.

"Fred! George! How good to see you both!" Mrs. Weasley greeted them with a motherly kiss on both their cheeks. They both mumbled a response. Angelina scowled as Mrs. Weasley turned around. It was so typical of her to ignore Angelina. "And Ginny, I didn't see you there at first! Harry told us you would run a little late today," she said as she greeted also Ginny with a hug and kisses on the cheeks. "Did you bring anything? Just tell me where it is and I'll put it in the kitchen for you."

"Front door," Ginny managed to get out. Mrs. Weasley rushed past Angelina and the twins out in the hall. She barely took any notice of that bowl Angelina had in her hands.

"Hello there!" Mr. Weasley greeted when his wife had gone out. Bill and Harry had resumed their conversation and Fred and George stood stiff like statues next to Angelina. Poor Ginny was sitting next to paralyzed on the couch.

Mr. Weasley shook Angelina's hand. "It's good to see you all again. I can take care of that," he said and took the bowl from Angelina's arms.

"It's no problem, I can take it out in the kitchen," Angelina protested.

"Oh, no there's no need for that. Molly and I decided to take care of all the kitchen stuff ourselves today since we won't be so many."

"How come?" she asked. "How come we won't be so many, I mean?" Mr. Weasley began walking into the kitchen and after a moment of hesitation, Angelina followed. She didn't really want to leave Fred alone but Arthur had already started answering her question so she couldn't very well stay.

"Well, Charlie is in Romania as usual," Mr. Weasley begun. "He called yesterday and told us to give our love to everyone but said that he couldn't make it. Hermione and Ron won't come since Ron is still practicing Quidditch and..."

"Still?" Angelina blurted out. The second she did, she wished she hadn't. It just surprised her that Mr. Weasley didn't seem to know that Ron had been down visiting just recently.

"Yes, this is the middle of the season, of course they have to practice hard."

"Of course. How silly of me to forget." She hadn't made any major damage and of that she was grateful.

"Then again," Mr. Weasley continued, "we rarely hear from Ron anymore so if he did come down to visit, we would probably be the last to find out."

Angelina barely contained her nervous laugh. The irony, the irony.

"Well, like I said, we won't be any more today. Percy is working extra and Fleur is down visiting her parents in France. She had planned to bring Bill and the kids with her but Bill wanted to come here instead, so she just brought the kids. So no grandchildren this weekend."

He seemed almost sad. So far, he and Mrs. Weasley only had three grandchildren, Bill's two boys and Percy's little girl. It was easy to see how much he missed having little kids running around in the house.

"Anyway, Molly and I didn't want to dump all the kitchen stuff on just you and Ginny, and the boys won't be much of a help. Now go out and socialise with everyone," he said and shooed her out of the kitchen.

Angelina suddenly felt very sorry for him. There seemed to be a lot he didn't know about his children. One of the boys alone would be better in the kitchen than Angelina and Ginny combined, that's how good cooks they were. Then again, anyone would be better in the kitchen than Ginny and Angelina. The only thing they would be able to manage would be to burn down the whole house.

-----------------

Meanwhile, Fred and George had eased up a bit. They were now seated in the couch opposite of Harry and Ginny. Ginny was still as paralyzed as when she had seen Harry, who was still talking to Bill.

"I haven't heard from Ron in a while," Bill suddenly asked. "Do you know how he's doing?"

Harry was about to answer but Ginny, who was shook out of her reverie by the mention of Ron's name, interrupted.

"Harry, can I talk to you? In private?"

"Sure," he said hesitantly. "We'll be right back," he added to the Weasley brothers as he and Ginny got up and left the room.

When they closed the door, Bill turned to the twins.

"What's going on?" he asked with an accusing glare at them.

"Nothing," they both answered simply and with plain facial expressions.

"Don't say 'nothing'. I know something is up. Ever since you walked through the door not even a word has left your mouths."

The twins shrugged.

"Maybe we just don't have anything to say," George answered.

"You two? The blubbering blabbers of this family? Nothing to say? You always have something to say, and when don't have something to say you make something up."

Again, the twins only shrugged in response.

"I know something is up," Bill mumbled to himself, "and I'm going to find out what it is."

As he tried to think of some way to get the twins to talk Angelina entered the room. She sat down next to Fred and whispered in his ear so Bill wouldn't overhear.

"Did you know that your parents barely have any contact with Ron?"

"What?" he whispered back. "Are you sure?"

Angelina nodded. "They didn't even know that he had been down visiting just a few days ago."

"You didn't tell them what happened, did you?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Good," he sighed in relief.

A big crash was heard from the other room. Everyone stood up in surprise.

"I'll go see what it is," George offered but was stopped by Bill.

"No," he said with a suspicious glance at George, "I think I'll do it."

He was just about to go when Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.

"Bill! Can you come in here for a second, dear?" Bill didn't know what to do. This was his chance to maybe find out what was going on but when his mum called again he decided that it was best to not ignore her. George therefore went to check out the mysterious crash instead.

Alone in the room, Fred turned to Angelina.

"Did Dad say anything else?"

She shook her head. "Not more than that they hadn't heard from Ron in a while, and that Percy was working today and that Fleur is with her kids in France."

Fred nodded slowly, as if deep in thought. "So there will only be us here today," he stated.

Angelina stepped closer, wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head on his shoulder. Fred had never been as miserable as he had these last couple of days. It was so hard for him to see his siblings getting hurt that way and not be able to do a thing about it.

"What are you thinking?" she asked softly, feeling as helpless as he when it came to easing pain.

"About what I should do," he said while circling his arms around Angelina's shoulders. "A part of me tells me to tell Bill everything. And another part wants exactly what Ginny does."

"Which is?"

"To forget about all of this, pretend like it never happened."

"I'm sure you'll be able to do that soon," Angelina said while rubbing small circles on his back.

"I sure hope so, I sure hope so," he mumbled in her hair.

"Dinner's ready!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.

Angelina groaned. It felt good to be wrapped in Fred's arms like this and she was reluctant to let go. Fred kissed the top of her head before pulling away. He grabbed her hand and led her into the dining room.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were placing the last bowls and bottles on the table. Harry was already seated and Fred and Angelina sat down next to each other. The room seemed so big when there were so few people in it. It was usually filled with people moving about and talking to and yelling at each other.

Bill entered shortly after, and only a moment or two later, George and Ginny arrived as well.

Fred mouthed something to George as he sat down and George answered with a small movement of his head. They went on for a few seconds, having a conversation with just tiny movements of the lips and head before digging in on their dinner.

The dinner was awkwardly quiet. No one said anything except "Please pass the potatoes" or "Hand me the salt, please".

The main course went by quicker than ever and Molly started clearing the tables and setting up for dessert. This was the time reserved for announcements. It was always right before the dessert that someone got up and declared that they had gotten a promotion, that they were getting married or that they were having a baby. With so few people, no one expected any such announcements to be made and everyone, save George and Ginny, were equally surprised when Harry cleared his throat and stood up.

"I have a little announcement to make," he said. Everyone was quiet. Ginny was staring down at her plate. He made a pause before continuing, "I have very recently received a job offer. A very good offer. Well paid and so on." He cleared his throat again. "It's a really good job actually. The only problem with it is that it is in America." Mrs. Weasley gasped.

"So you and Ginny are moving?" she asked when he didn't continue immediately.

"Not exactly," Harry said. He seemed almost embarrassed now. "Ginny and I have talked a lot about it and she wants me to have this job, but she wants to stay here."

Angelina almost scoffed at the lies that were jumping out of his mouth. If 'job' was, as she suspected it to be, a synonym for 'baby' in this case, then Ginny certainly didn't want him to have it and there was no way that they had spent any time discussing this. This was all Harry's decisions.

"We've decided that a long-distance relationship won't work out for us, but we've decided to stay good friends and not hold any grudges or anything. We both believe that this is the best way to solve it," he ended lamely.

Mrs. Weasley seemed about ready to burst into tears. "So you're not coming to dinners anymore?" she asked.

"I will do my best to come visit whenever I can," he assured her hurriedly. "but it's a long way to travel and I don't know how busy the work will keep me."

Mrs. Weasley swallowed a sob. "It's all right Harry. You go over to America and make us all proud. It's just that...I....I was so looking forward to your wedding!" She ended with a large sob and threw her arms around him. She started crying uncontrollably and Harry seemed to almost suffocate under her big hug.

Angelina wanted to grin out of satisfaction, the big git deserved it after all, but with glance at Mr. Weasley she changed her mind. He was looking with sad and concerned eyes at Ginny who during the whole time had been looking down at her plate. He was probably interpreting her quietness as sadness for Harry leaving. Bill sat still and almost seemed paralyzed, as if he couldn't believe his ears. Now Angelina really understood Fred's dilemma. A wonderful family like this deserved to know what was happening to their members, but if the same feelings were created from telling a lie, wasn't it better to just forget the whole thing?

Instead of dwelling over a problem that at this stage was impossible to solve, Angelina grabbed the ice-cream bowl and scooped up some for herself. She couldn't very well just let it melt away now could she?


	9. George's secret

Author's note: Here it is after a long wait; chapter 9! I hope you'll like it. I promised to focus a bit more on Fred and Angelina from now on and after this chapter there will definitely be more focus on especially Angelina. I hope you'll like it! Please keep reviewing, it's what keeps me going!

Chapter 9

George's secret

It was the evening the day after Family dinner, Monday. Angelina was still at work and Fred and George were preparing dinner in the kitchen. They were both somewhat exhausted from the day's work. The shop had been busy as usual but one of the employees had called in sick and the workload had then been heavier for everyone else since they hadn't been able to find a replacement on such short notice.

They hadn't had a chance to talk to each other since lunch the previous day. George had said he had some sort of meeting he had to attend to last night and due to tiredness, Fred hadn't questioned him further about it. George hadn't arrived home until way past midnight when both Fred and Angelina were well asleep. Fred had promised himself to ask in the morning just what exactly George had been doing, but later forgot about it completely. Right now, something else was on his mind.

"What really happened yesterday?" Fred asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" George almost jumped in surprise at the question and glanced carefully at Fred, but Fred hadn't seemed to notice.

"Between Ginny and Harry. You went in and talked to them, didn't you? What did they say?"

"Oh. That." George wanted to sigh loudly in relief but restrained himself. "They didn't say much really," he shrugged. "I went in to them after that crash as you know. It turned out to just have been Ginny being her clumsy self and knocking over a chair while arguing with Harry."

"What did they argue about: What excuse to tell Mum and Dad?" Fred asked while chopping some tomatoes.

"No, Harry had already come up with one that he was set on using. Ginny was more angry with him for even showing up." He tasted the sauce then added some more salt before continuing with the stirring.

"Was he telling the truth, though? About the moving and the job?" Fred added the tomatoes to the salad bowl and then went in search for the dressing.

"About the moving, yes. About the job, no. After Harry had left the room, Ginny told me everything they'd said. Apparently, Cho was the one who had received the job offer and Harry, who wanted to be close to his baby, had decided to move with her. He practically had to beg for a job over there. He's not as famous on the other side of the pond," George ended with a smile. Fred chuckled. It served him right to not be able to use the whole Saviour-of-the-world-thing anymore. He finally found the dressing and added it to the salad. The oven beeped and Fred grabbed the oven gloves before opening it.

Just as Fred was taking out the chicken, they heard the lock turn and the door open.

"Hello! I'm home!" the cheery voice of Angelina greeted. A few moments later, she stepped in to the kitchen.

Fred placed the chicken on the stove and greeted Angelina with a hug and a peck on the lips.

"Finally! I thought you said you'd be home early," Fred whined while placing small kisses on her face.

"I was, but I ran into someone on the way," she said and then smiled playfully at George. Fred looked at his girlfriend's extremely happy face and then his twin brother's confused one.

"I'm lost. Anyone feels like explaining?" he asked, still looking back and forth between them.

"Later," she said simply and kissed him once more on the lips. "Have you set the table yet?"

"No, but..." Before he could continue, she was out of the door, carrying both plates and glasses for all three of them. He gave George one last questioning look before taking the salad bowl and sauce and followed his girlfriend into the dining room.

When he was out of sight, panic suddenly struck George. She couldn't know, could she? From the way she had looked at him she probably did. All he could do was to stay cool until she brought it up. After all, no reason to panic if she really didn't know.

Dinner went by pretty quietly. Angelina glanced playfully at George, George stared confused back, and Fred turned his head every few moments to look at both of them with an even greater look of confusion on his face. After a while he had had enough.

"Ok, what have I missed?" he said and put down his knife and fork and crossed his arms.

"I don't know," Angelina said, even though it was evident that she did. "Why don't you tell us George?" She cocked her head to the side, still with a smile playing on her face.

"I have no idea what you're referring to," he lied. Of course he knew what she was talking about. He just hoped he was wrong and that she really didn't know about…

"Let me put it this way," she said and leaned forward a bit. "I ran into Katie on my way home from work."

Ok. She knew. He had two options now: Confess or run. Before he made a decision, Fred interrupted.

"So?"

"I found out why we haven't been hearing so much from her lately."

"Why's that?"

George was just about to answer with a really quick made-up lie but Angelina was faster.

"George is sleeping with Katie!" she blurted out with a triumphant smile.

"Don't say it that way!" George objected.

"It's true!" Fred almost shouted but neither Angelina nor George took any notice of him.

"Why not, it's what you're doing," Angelina defended.

"Doesn't mean you have to put it like that," George muttered. Angelina was ready with a come-back but Fred stood up and threw out his arms.

"Whoa! Slow down a bit!" He turned to George. "Is it really true? Are you really sleeping with Katie?"

"Yes," George answered after a moment's hesitation. Fred looked almost upset about it and he couldn't understand why.

"How long have you been fooling around with her?" Fred asked and now looked almost hurt.

"Why do say it like we're doing something wrong?" George asked instead of answering.

"Because it is! You can't go out with a friend. What if you break up? Then none of us will be able to hang out with her, and we like Katie!"

George looked at him as if he was crazy. "Hypocrite!" he shouted and gestured towards Angelina. "How can you lecture me about going out with a friend when you've been doing the exact same thing for years?!" He was so surprised that he didn't notice their expressions until he had finished the sentence.

Both Fred and Angelina were practically rolling around on the floor laughing.

"You should have seen your expression," Angelina managed to get out while still laughing.

"Sit down and give us some details instead," Fred said, after calming down a bit, holding one hand on the stomach and the other on his chair for support. George hadn't even noticed he had stood up during his little outburst. He shook his head and glared at them.

"No. I think going to bed instead," he said sulkily and left the room.

"Hold on!" Fred called after him. "I was just messing with you! Come back!"

They heard the bedroom door slam.

"I don't think I've had so much fun in a long time," Angelina said, still smiling to herself.

"He has to admit it was a pretty good joke."

"Do you think he got really upset?" Angelina asked, a bit concerned now. She hadn't meant for him to get mad at them, and especially not at Katie for letting her know their secret.

"Nah, he just needs some time to calm down. Let's clean this up first," Fred said and started clearing the table. Angelina also picked up some plates and carried them out into the kitchen.

"Did she say something else? Katie, I mean," Fred asked when they were both in the other room. He put the pans in the sink and washed them off before placing them in the dishwasher (yes, they did have one. Considering how bad Angelina was at housekeeping spells it was the only way to keep all the plates from being broken just from being washed).

"Of course she did. You can't expect her to give away such a well kept secret without sharing some details. Though I think you'd rather hear them from George."

Fred nodded slowly while drying his hands. "Wait a sec! '_Well kept _secret'?"

Angelina laughed. "Yes, apparently they've been going out for months. I can't believe none of us noticed."

"Well that might be because we've been too busy focusing on someone else," he said and closed in on her.

"Really? And who might that be?" she asked innocently as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I think you can guess." Fred put his face really close to Angelina's. Angelina's breath hitched at the proximity.

"I think you have to tell me," she nearly whispered, unable to think properly have Fred so close and his warm breath just above her ear.

"Why, Ron and Ginny of course!" he said in a normal tone and pulled away. He had no time to react before a dishtowel hit him in the head. "Ow!" he laughed.

"Great way to ruin a mood," Angelina responded grumpily and went back to placing leftovers in the refrigerator.

"I'm sorry, honey," Fred said and wrapped his arms around from behind. She barely took any notice of it.

"Speaking of Ron and Ginny. How much do your parents really know about all you guys' lives?"

"What do you mean?" Fred asked, giving up on getting the mood back, she was clearly not interested right now.

"You dad had absolutely no idea that Ron had been back to visit. Do they not speak anymore?"

"Sure they do. I think that Ron just doesn't feel like he has to report every little thing that is happening in his life. I don't feel like I have to do that anyway. I mean, I don't tell them every time I take you out on a date. Or every time I take a day off from work. I don't feel it to be necessary."

"I just think it's a shame," Angelina said, mostly to herself but Fred caught it anyway.

"What is?"

"That, when you have as great parents as you do, you don't want to share your lives with them. I'm not saying you have to tell them every single little thing, but I think at least they would be happy to know some of the on-goings in your lives."

Fred detected a sadness in her eyes that couldn't really pinpoint where it came from. Instead of pushing the matter he once again wrapped his arms around her and this time she hugged him back.


	10. Two months later

**Author's note:** Sorry for the long time between updates. Real life keeps getting in the way. See this as a nice start to the new year! The address from Wales is completely made up. If someone happens to live there or know someone who does I could either change it or congratulate you for being in my fic. Your choice!

Have fun reading, all of you! Don't forget to review! You can only imagine what it feels like to read the comments from all you wonderful readers! It's wonderful.

**Chapter 10**

**Two months later**

It had been two months since Fred found out about George and Katie. Two months in which absolutely nothing had happened. Well, except George getting the dragon pox and being forced to stay in bed for two weeks where Fred and Angelina could torture him mercilessly without him being able to do anything about it. Other than that, nothing had happened.

"Morning sunshine!" Fred greeted when a sour looking George entered the kitchen. He grunted something in response while grabbing a tissue and blowing his nose forcefully. He had recovered enough from his illness to get out of bed, but he was still sick. "Coffee?" Fred asked with a flashing smile on his face.

"No thanks. There is no telling what you might have done to it," George answered. "Where is your evil partner-in-crime?"

"You mean my beautiful and wonderful girlfriend? She's at work."

"Great, then I only have to deal with one of you today," George mumbled. "Unless you're also heading to work." A hint of hope was evident in his voice.

"Nope, sorry to disappoint you brother but I'm staying home today. I've got the party of the year to plan."

"It's not New Year yet."

Fred rolled his eyes. "This is way more important than a New Year's Eve party. It's Angelina's birthday party!"

George sighed. "The amount of effort you put down pleasing your girlfriend makes you a disgrace to the male population."

"But oh so popular to the female population," Fred reminded him. George made a sound that was probably supposed to be a snort but became some sort of weird cough instead causing him a coughing fit. "You better get well within two weeks time or I will strike you off the guest list," Fred warned.

"Then I'll make myself official party-crasher," George answered after recovering himself.

"True," Fred laughed. "Listen to this. For the theme I was thinking sort of beach/exotic kind of."

"Wasn't that what you had about three years ago?" George asked. He grabbed the coffee cup Fred had offered him previously and sipped slowly from it.

"That's right! I keep forgetting. Poker night then. Or did we have that last year?"

George let Fred ramble on to himself while relishing his coffee. They went through the same thing almost every year. Fred getting all enthusiastic about celebrating Angelina's birthday, and George sitting next to him pretending to listen. Though he had to admit that when Fred had finally decided on an idea, it was pretty fun helping out. Thanks to all the products they had created for the store, their parties always turned out to be a blast. And since Fred considered Angelina's birthday to be one of the most important dates of the year, her party was always lived up to all expectations.

George kept musing for himself and didn't notice the feathers slowly growing out from his skin. Not two seconds later, Fred was rolling around on the floor laughing at his twin who had turned into a large canary.

"_Damn coffee,"_ George thought to himself.

---------

"Hello, anybody home?" Angelina called as she entered the door. She received no answer. They were probably just out getting some groceries or something.

The mail had arrived. After taking off her coat and shoes, Angelina brought it with her and curled up on the couch to go through it. Three letters were for Fred and George. From what she could see they were probably bills or other important papers for their store. Among the pile were two magazines she subscribed to, Witch Weekly and Quidditch Today. There was a note to all three of them from Lee, reminding them of tomorrow's Quidditch game that they were going to watch at his place. Last but not least there was a letter addressed to Angelina.

The envelope was a very expensive one. The handwriting was so neat it was nearly sickening. She could almost guess who it was from and it did not please her. Panic started flowing through her as she examined the envelope closer. She turned it over and almost fainted when her suspicion was confirmed.

-------------

"Hello! Are you home, honey?" Fred called when he entered the door. He received no answer.

He and George dropped of the groceries in the kitchen and while George unpacked he went to search for Angelina. The door had been unlocked so she was definitely there. She wasn't in the bedroom or any of the bathrooms. He found her in the living room, sitting on the couch looking petrified.

"Hey! Are you alright?" He ran over to her. "Sweetheart?"

She seemed to come alive when he touched her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm fine." She didn't sound fine at all.

"What's wrong?" Fred was going to kneel down in front of her but Angelina quickly stood up.

"The mail is over there," she said and gestured with one hand while stuffing something in her pocket with her other. George entered and was about to ask something when Angelina continued, "I'll get started on dinner." She forced a small smile and went past George into the kitchen.

George gestured towards her and raised a questioning eyebrow at Fred. Fred was too shocked to do anything but shrug.

---------------------

Despite Angelina's complete lack of cooking skills combined with her state of shock, she had managed to put together a very edible meal. In any other case, George would have commented and made a big deal of her finally managing something, but since neither she nor Fred had uttered a word during the entire meal he had decided it was best to keep his mouth shut.

After dinner, Angelina had cleared the table and then gone straight to bed.

As soon as she had shut the door George nearly yelled at Fred.

"What have you done?!"

"I don't know," Fred answered. "I just walked into the living room as she sat there, still as a statue. When I asked her what was wrong she completely went into robot mode. I don't know what to do about it!"

"Try talking to her at least!" George exclaimed. "Seriously, it almost felt as though you'd had a fight or something by the way you acted tonight."

"I know," Fred said quietly, "I just didn't know what to say. She has never been like this. Ever."

They were both quiet for a while. "Maybe it was the letter," George suggested finally.

"What letter?" Fred asked.

"The letter she stuffed in her pocket right before making dinner. Didn't you see it?"

"Oh, that letter. Yeah I saw it. I just didn't think too much about it."

"Maybe you should," George inquired slowly.

"What do you mean?" Fred asked. He could feel heat rising in his body as if it, before him, could guess what George was going to suggest. By the look on George's face he was sure what his brother was going to say next. "You can't possible be suggesting that she could do such a thing." He tried his best to keep the anger contained. "She would never do that to me."

"I'm not saying it because I think it's something she would do, but what if she does? Have an affair, I mean."

------

A few hours later when Fred went to bed himself, Angelina had already fallen asleep. She was laying on her side facing the wall. He and George had quickly left the subject of Angelina having an affair. It was too unbelievable to be true so they had just dropped it. The thought was still hanging in the air though.

He was about to undress when something caught his eye. Angelina had hung her pants on the chair by the dresser as usual. Something was sticking out of her back pocket. Fred hesitated. If she saw him, she would kill him. If she didn't, he would find out what had upset her and be able to help. It was clearly an easy decision. Fred took a quick glance at Angelina to make sure she was still sleeping. He then took out the envelope from her pocket.

It was sort of heavy, but not so much that anything other than paper was contained in it. There was a stamp on it so it had to have been sent the Muggle way. The handwriting, although extremely neat, was definitely a male's. He turned it over to look at the return address.

_Thomas Johnson_

_1583 West Street_

_H49 U853 Conwy_

_Wales_

The envelope wasn't opened which meant that only the name had brought out the forceful reaction from Angelina. Fred pondered for a minute. He could very easily open the letter, read it, then put it back and seal it with magic so that it seemed as if it had never been opened in the first place. He glanced over at Angelina again. She was still sleeping peacefully. Some strands of her hair had fallen in her face which somehow made her even more beautiful.

He took one last look at the closed envelope before putting it back in her pocket. If it was a letter from an admirer or lover he could deal with him when Angelina told him. And if she didn't tell him, he could take care of it anyway. One could go a long way just knowing someone's address.

Fred changed into his pyjama pants and then crawled into bed next to Angelina. He looked at her a long while and then leaned over her and placed a soft kiss first on her cheek and then in her hair by the temple.

"I love you," he whispered softly in her ear before laying down and going to sleep himself.

-------

When Fred woke up the next morning Angelina was gone. She seemed to have been gone for some time since there was no heat left on her side of the bed.

With a sigh he got up and went out to the kitchen. George was still in his pyjamas too and handed Fred a cup of coffee when he sat down at the table.

"Did you work things out with Angelina last night?" George asked.

"No, she was asleep."

"What about this morning?" George continued, getting a tiny bit worried now. From the look of Fred's face he gathered that if they had talked at all it had not gone well.

"She had left before I woke up."

George was quiet for a moment, trying to find the right words to bring up the touchy subject they had briefly covered last night. Failing, George decided it was just better to spit it out. "Did you find anything pointing to her having an affair?"

"The letter was from a man," Fred answered sadly. "Someone called Thomas Johnson. He lives in Wales. Probably a Muggle." Fred was going to continue rambling all his suspicions on this guy when his twin interrupted him.

"Thomas Johnson?" George repeated with a great grin and a sigh of relief. "That's great!"

Fred stared at him with nothing but a look of confusion on his face.

---------

Angelina had to knock for a while before the door opened.

"Angelina! What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I need to talk to you. It's important."


	11. Brothers are unpredictable

**Author's note:** Again, sorry about the long delay. It's sometimes unbelievable how much time school takes. I hope I still have some readers left after this long wait. This chapter is not carefully proofread only because I wanted to publish it as soon as possible. I'm not going to promise anything 'cause then I'll disappoint both you and me but I hope that I can get up at least one more chapter before the summer ends. I have a very rough outline in my head but I have to work out the details before I start on the next chapter as they are vital to the plot in the long run. Don't forget to review, everyone means so much to me! Enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 11**

**Brothers are unpredictable**

Fred was standing leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and an irritated look on his face. George was walking around the kitchen, preparing breakfast, all the time keeping a look of amusement on his face.

"You know, my girlfriend might be cheating on me and you are amused. I sure don't see the connection so why don't you fill me in." Fred was beyond annoyed now. This had been going on for 20 minutes, ever since George had had his revelation about Angelina's mystery writer.

"You should see your face right now," George remarked and smiled at his brother. "You have that special type of annoyed that you only have when I figure something out faster than you do."

Fred rolled his eyes. "You've been saying that five times already, why don't you just let me know what you've figured out?"

"'Cause it's more fun this way," George teased and got back to his breakfast.

Fred let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his hair. If he knew his brother right, and he was pretty sure he did, he could go on like this for all day unless Fred found some way to break him. And he would have to do it soon. Fred didn't have all day, he had to find out where Angelina was now or else he was sure he was going to go crazy. What frustrated him even more was the fact that he was one of the greatest pranksters in the world and he couldn't even find a single way to blackmail his own brother.

As if the great Merlin had heard his wishes the phone rang right at that second. Worried as he was about Angelina, Fred hurled himself at the phone before George had even looked up at the sound.

"Hello?" he said urgently, but his stress level dropped as he heard who it was on the other line. "Oh, it's just you. What can I do for you, Katie? Yes, George is here."

Now it was George's turn to jump up. "It's Katie? Give me the phone!" George reached out his hand to grab it and was more than surprised when Fred pulled it out of his reach.

From a sudden flash of inspiration, Fred had found the perfect way to get his brother to tell him what he had found out. "What I meant to say is: He's home, but not right here. He's in the bathroom actually but I'm sure he'll be done any minute. Speaking of the bathroom, have George ever told you the about the time we were on a business trip in France. It's really funny actually. We were just walking out of a meeting when nature suddenly called. George of course couldn't wait forever and instead of walking out to the nearest restaurant he decided to ask the director if he could use their bathroom."

"What are you doing?" George hissed. "We agreed to never speak of that!"

"Hold on just a second, Katie, I need to pick something off the stove." Fred turned and faced George. "Tell me what you know and I won't finish the story!" he hissed back.

"No way!"

Fred shrugged and then put the receiver back to his ear. "As I was saying…"

He didn't get much further until George stopped him again. "Stop talking and I'll give you a clue!"

Fred considered the offer for a minute. "You know what Katie; I think George is finished now. I'll have to tell you the rest of the story another time. Or better yet, why don't you ask George about it. Here he comes."

He handed the telephone to George while mouthing "Don't take too long" and George left the room switching to his lovey dovey voice while assuring Katie that she did not want to hear the rest of the story.

Fred sat down at the kitchen table, picking up his unfinished cup of coffee all the while drumming his fingers on the table impatiently.

Only two minutes later did George return, sickening smile on his face.

"Ah, to be young and in love!" he sighed. "I have the day off and I'm meeting my wonderful girlfriend tonight. It cannot get any better than that."

"Good for you, now give me my clue," Fred grunted, more than a little annoyed that his brother would have a wonderful night with his girlfriend while his was still missing.

"Alright, alright. You're no fun when you're worried," he complained but stopped when he saw the daggers shooting from his brother's eyes. "The letter was from a Thomas Johnson, right?"

"Right, so?" Fred shrugged.

"Thomas JOHNSON?" George clarified.

"If this is supposed to be your clue then I must tell you that…oh," Fred annoyed expression switched to one of complete clarity in half a second when realization dawned upon him. "Thomas JOHNSON," he repeated, now with a smile on his face.

-------

"So tell me what's wrong," Alicia said while handing Angelina a cup of coffee.

Angelina accepted the coffee gratefully. She had tossed and turned all night, fully unable to get even a minute of sleep. At five in the morning she had had enough. She had to get out of there. It didn't take long to decide where to go.

She and Alicia had known each other since they were five. They shared almost everything that happened to them and Angelina knew that the only one who would fully understand her dilemma was Alicia.

Although Alicia didn't exactly appreciate being woken up at five thirty in the morning she had quickly seen the look of desperation on her best friend's face and let her in without a moment of hesitation.

"I received this in the mail yesterday," Angelina said after taking a few sips of the coffee. She took out the letter from her purse and handed it to Alicia.

A small gasp escaped from Alicia's lips as she spotted the address. She turned it over a few times as if looking for any clue indicating what it could be about.

"You haven't opened it?" she asked after a minute of examination.

Angelina shook her head in response.

Alicia stared at the envelope for two more seconds before making up her mind.

"What are you doing?!" Angelina exclaimed in shock as Alicia started ripping it up.

"You have to do it some time and I figured it was better to do it now and get it over with than sit and hesitate for another day. The sooner you know what he wants the sooner you can do something about it," Alicia argued while keeping the letter out of Angelina's reach. She waited until Angelina has sat back down before pulling the letter out of the envelope and skimming through it.

Unconsciously, Angelina had brought her right hand up to her mouth and started biting on her fingernails, a habit she had quit long before starting at Hogwarts. She sat quietly waiting for Alicia to finish.

"Ok," Alicia finally said. "There are good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"The bad ones," Angelina answered without hesitation.

"You have to contact him whether you want to or not."

"Personally," she asked, her brow in a deep frown.

"No, a letter will do."

Angelina contemplated this for a second. She wouldn't actually have to talk to him which was the silver lining since it meant she wouldn't have to tell Fred anything, except a really well thought-out lie to keep him from asking about the letter.

"What is the good news then?"

"He's getting married," Alicia said with a big smile which quickly turned into an expression of surprise as Angelina shot up so quickly she nearly knocked the coffee table over.

"What?! How is that good news? Not only will I have to contact him, I have to actually meet them all! What kind of family member will I be if I don't go to my brother's wedding?!"

Alicia quickly tried to hush her. Her boyfriend was still asleep and even though he wouldn't be too mad for being woken up at this hour, she didn't think her friend would want him to overhear this conversation.

"How can it be bad news? All you have to do is tell them you have other plans that can't be cancelled. Isn't this the date you and Fred are going on vacation anyway?" she asked, showing Angelina the date.

Alicia was right. That was the day she and Fred were supposed to be on vacation. However, this only made the situation a lot worse. Not only did she have to come up with a huge lie to what the letter was, she also had to come up with an even better excuse as to why she couldn't join him on their romantic all-inclusive vacation.

Angelina voiced her concerns for Alicia who answered:

"I don't see why you have to lie to Fred in the first place. What's so bad about him meeting your family?"

Angelina scoffed.

"There are a million things they could say that would forever ruin my relationship with Fred, I don't know if I'm willing to risk that."

Although Alicia could see the worry in her friend's eyes by the way they filled up with salty water, she couldn't really pinpoint what the worry was about.

"Angelina, I honestly can't see why you're so worried. Since when do you care what other people think about Fred? He is who he is and you love him for it. Why would that change just because your parents don't approve. You've never asked for their approval before."

"I'm not worried about what they think about him. I couldn't give a damn about their opinion anyway."

"What's the matter then?" Alicia asked, seeing the tears getting bigger her friend's eyes.

"I'm worried about what he will think of me when he finds out where I come from?" she confessed, tears finally spilling down her cheeks.

---------

Angelina stayed at Alicia's until long after noon. They had bounced ideas back and forth and had finally come to the conclusion that the best way to handle the situation was to come clean to Fred. Not just about the wedding but about the entire situation.

When she entered the apartment it was awfully quiet. Despite it only being early afternoon at least one of the twins should be home. She called out and received no response.

As she entered the living room it didn't take long to spot Fred. He was sitting still on the couch, very much like she had just twenty-four hours prior. Not knowing how to greet him, she blurted out the first thing that popped into her mind.

"My brother wants us to come to his wedding."

It took so long for Fred to respond that she nearly thought he had been petrified.

"Well, that makes one of us."


	12. The article

**Author's note: I'm not even going to bother listing the excuses why it took so long to update. Mostly because I don't think you will enjoy reading it. Instead I'll let you continue with something I hope you will enjoy: the story. A short chap but hopefully enough to not make you give up on the story. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

_In previous chapter:_

"_My brother wants us to come to his wedding."_

"_Well, that makes one of us."_

Chapter 12

The article

Instead of explaining, Fred had handed her a magazine. On the front page was a picture of Ron with a huge grin on his face and his arm around a pretty girl.

Angelina was very reluctant to call her a woman despite the text saying she was just a few years younger than herself. The girl barely reached up to Ron's shoulder and had a general young aura around her.

The girl had a beautiful smile and her hand held out to clearly show the readers the giant diamond on her left hand. Her small hand looked even smaller with the diamond taking up so much space.

Her appearance was the most surprising though. Had she not known better, Angelina would have guessed that it was Hermione. The hair and height resembled her enough. The body shape didn't.

"He got engaged to a Hermione look-alike," she commented, not knowing what else to say.

"A Hermione look-alike with boobs and hips you mean," Fred grumbled.

"Well, she certainly has…more of it…than Hermione…" Angelina reasoned, not knowing exactly how to comment the extreme difference.

"I don't care what he says, he is _so_ not over her," Fred mumbled.

This brought Angelina's attention away from the magazine. "When did he say this?" Angelina asked crossing her arms. From what she could recall, Fred had not spoken to Ron for quite a while.

Fred suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Say what?" he asked, acting as though he didn't know what had caught her attention.

"That he was over Hermione. The last I thought you heard from him was when he moved back up north giving his apartment to Ginny. That was over two months ago. Right after he broke up with Hermione. Of course he wouldn't be over her then. Which only means you've been talking to him more recently."

"I sort of called him," he said hesitantly, clearly not wanting a follow-up question.

"When?" Angelina asked dangerously, already guessing the answer.

This time he didn't answer at all, just fidgeted with his fingers.

"Don't tell me you called him right after you saw this. Don't tell me that you were so blinded by shock that you called him and told him what a bad idea it is marrying this girl right now the second you saw this article." She glared at him, daring him to deny that this was exactly what he had done.

"Well, I had to tell him what an idiot he was!" he explained trying to make her see his reasoning.

"Then you only have yourself to blame for not being invited to his wedding. You know you should have waited for him to call and tell you the news and after he was all giddy and everything about his news you can carefully lead the subject and subtly letting him know what a ridiculous idea this is. We've been through this, Fred! You can't just say what pops into your mind when it comes to dealing with unreasonable people. Ron is in a very bad place right now and he needs you to act sane when he doesn't. Yelling at him and telling him he is an idiot doesn't do any good."

"It does too! It lets me vent," he ended weakly.

Angelina scoffed.

"I know you want me to act reasonable when my siblings don't but it's not as easy as you make it seem," he tried to explain, referring to the times when she had gone through how he should do when he thought his siblings acted like idiots. "Which is why this is your fault!" he accused suddenly.

"My fault? Do explain why," she narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to continue the unfounded accusation.

"Yes." He hesitated a little but decided to continue his reasoning anyway, "You weren't here to calm me down and tell me this reasoning before I made the call."

"Well, I'm sorry that I had problems of my own to deal with," she replied sarcastically. "Next time I'll schedule them around a time when you don't need me to act like a sane human being."

He made a move as though to continue his argument but decided to stop upon seeing the sad look on his girlfriends face. She turned away as to not face him. She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't tell him about her family now when they had other things to deal with. Especially if he was going to act as unreasonable as he had when he found out the news of his brother's engagement.

In the middle of her thoughts of how she was going to divert the conversation from all things wedding she felt his arms snake around her waist and wrapping her in a warm hug.

He kissed her hair and said softly in her ear: "I'm looking forward to meeting your family by the way."

Startled by the sudden change in attitude she for a second forgot what he was talking about.

"What?" Was all she could say.

"Well, I assumed that is what you meant when you said that your brother wants us to come to his wedding: that I'm finally going to meet your family. Did you mean something else?"

Her mind became clearer.

"No. That is what I meant. I'm just…..nervous….because you've never met my parents before."

"Remind me again, why haven't I?" Fred said while taking a few steps away from her and crossed his arms.

Angelina immediately missed the warmth of his body. Though, she understood the action. She couldn't even count how many times he had bugged her about meeting her family. Every time she had skilfully changed the subject before a full-fledged fight had broken out. He was very passionate about his family and that she wouldn't even talk about hers hurt him deeply. Angelina stood and fidgeted for a moment before taking a deep breath and saying:

"You know those people you always make fun of when we're eating out at a fancy restaurant or something?"

"You mean like the ones we met last time who sent their entire meal back because they found the crisp bread _too_ crispy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Angelina threw her arms out in a sort of helpless gesture. "That's my parents."

"They were your parents?!" Fred was now shocked, "Why didn't you say something? I would have stopped making fun of them! We could have gone up and said hello or something…"

Angelina put a finger to his lips to make him stop ranting.

"I didn't mean _they _were my parents. I meant that that is the way my parents act." She took away her finger. "They are the kinds of people who send back anything that is not to their taste. They look down on everyone and everything they don't consider to be of their status."

Fred didn't say anything for a while. Then he said slowly,

"That's why you haven't introduced me to them. Because they would look down on me?"

"NO! That's not what I meant at all!" The conversation had just taken the turn she had wanted to avoid. "I'm not afraid they will think that. I couldn't care less what they think of you." This time it was she who walked up and wrapped her arms around him. "Besides, what do they have to look down on? You have your own business. A business that is going extremely well. A business that you built yourself from scratch. I'm too proud of you to be worried that someone would look down on that."

The hard look on his face softened.

"I didn't do it all by myself. I had George you know…"

"I know." She smiled at him. Catastrophe diverted. She turned sombre again when she said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I was just afraid of what you would say if you knew you'd be dating a snob by birth all these years." There, it was out. Her worst fear was out on in the open.

"That's why you didn't tell me? Not because you thought I would make fun of your parents for being the sort of people I can't stand? Not for the fear that they will look down on me for just because I'm a simply shop owner? But because you didn't know what I would think of you? Sweetheart, I love you." He wrapped his arms around her again and kissed her firmly on the lips. "Nothing's going to change that." He kissed her again and she felt reassured.

Everything was going to be fine.

-----------

Everything was not fine.

Fred and George called Ron a few more times, both when Angelina was and wasn't around. Each time they yelled just a little bit louder.

The calls didn't desist until there was another article in the newspaper. This time it was different picture when the girl wasn't the only one with a ring on her finger.

_**KEEPER KEEPS GIRL**_

was the headline. Followed did all the details of the secret wedding they had had somewhere in the Bahamas.

After the article was published, Fred and George stopped talking to Ron completely.


End file.
